GREEN BAY – The Packers bolstered their offensive line with 15-year NFL veteran Kevin Zeitler.
Zeitler, 36, has started 213 of the 214 regular-season games in which he's played over stints with Cincinnati, Cleveland, the New York Giants, Baltimore, Detroit and Tennessee.
Here are five things to know about the Packers' new guard:
1. Zeitler is a Wisconsinite who stayed home to play for the Badgers.
Born in Waukesha, Zeitler won two WIAA Division 3 state championships at Wisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee) High School before playing at Wisconsin from 2008-11.
Zeitler was ranked the third-best player in Wisconsin and No. 39 offensive lineman in the nation by Rivals.com out of high school.
He started 36 of his 43 career games for a Badgers team that won consecutive Big Ten titles and Rose Bowl berths in his junior and senior campaigns. Based on team film study, did not allow a sack in his collegiate career. Zeitler earned consensus first-team All-America honors after starting 14 games at right guard his senior year.
2. He grew up a Packers fan but had to wait 13 NFL seasons to finally play at Lambeau Field.
Zeitler played Green Bay four times before making his first appearance at Lambeau. It came in 2024 as a member of the Lions, who prevailed 24-14.
It was a full circle moment for Zeitler, who told Detroit Football Network's Justin Rogers before the game that his first football memory was watching the Packers lose to the Dallas Cowboys in the 1995 NFC Championship Game.
The following year, when Zeitler was 6, Green Bay beat New England in Super Bowl XXXI and he was hooked.
"It's pretty cool," Zeitler said. "Growing up a big Pack fan, enjoying the Brett Favre eras and all that. Just to come back and kind of know the history, be back in the state of Wisconsin, it's pretty great. My family's pretty excited. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
Wisconsin remains close to Zeitler's heart, as he owns a cabin in Eagle River, Wis.
"There's always been some sort of summer trip to Eagle River," Zeitler said. "Last couple years, we got a cabin up there, so it became the whole summer for like the last three, four years."
3. Zeitler has played nearly 14,000 regular-season snaps at right guard.
Cincinnati drafted Zeitler 27th overall in the 2012 NFL Draft, one spot before the Packers drafted USC pass rusher Nick Perry.
He started 16 games at right guard as a rookie for the Bengals, earning a place on the PFWA All-Rookie team. Zeitler has remained at right guard throughout his career, making all of his 220 career starts (including playoffs) at that position.
Zeitler has missed just 15 combined games over his 14 NFL seasons. Four times, he's played every snap in the regular season (2016-18, 2022). Additionally, Zeitler played 99% of his team's offensive snaps on five other occasions.
In 213 regular-season games, Zeitler has played 13,995 offensive snaps and 889 snaps on special teams. That's believed to be the most offensive snaps played by any NFL offensive lineman since 2012.
4. Zeitler has played at a Pro Bowl level into his 30s.
Green Bay will be the fourth NFL stop in four years for Zeitler, but the 6-foot-4, 332-pound guard has maintained a high level of performance in the latter stages of his career.
Zeitler made his lone Pro Bowl appearance as a 33-year-old member of the Ravens' offensive line in 2023 and was again voted a Pro Bowl alternate after signing with the Lions in 2024.
That 2023 season spent with the Ravens is the closest that Zeitler has come to the Super Bowl. Baltimore lost to Kansas City, 17-10, in the AFC title game.
Zeitler garnered praise for the leadership he brought to a young Titans offensive line last season. He lined up alongside 2024 first-round pick and fellow Wisconsinite JC Latham, who grew up in Oak Creek and attended Waukesha Catholic Memorial before transferring to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
5. He's the third former first-round pick the Packers have added to their offensive line over the past week.
The addition of Zeitler comes after the Packers signed 12-year veteran Laken Tomlinson off Dallas' practice squad and added Mekhi Becton Sr. to their own practice squad on Monday.
Tomlinson was the Lions' first-round pick (No. 28) in 2015 while Becton was selected 11th overall by the Jets in 2020.
Green Bay has been searching for reinforcements on the offensive line after losing starting right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele for the season to a torn patellar tendon and struggling at other spots. Guard Aaron Banks has played only 22 snaps due to knee and toe injuries.
